Remote access to a mobile communication device over a wireless local area network (WLAN)

ABSTRACT

A method and arrangement is provided which allows a PC or other client device to be used to communicate with third parties through a mobile communication device when a user and the mobile communication device are not in the vicinity of one another. The arrangement allows the user to control operation of the mobile communication device over a WLAN so that the user can send or receive messages such as voice and text messages to a remote party from the client device through the mobile communication device over the WLAN and the mobile communication network employed by the mobile device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/235,764, filedSep. 19, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,565,156, issued Feb. 7, 2017,entitled, “REMOTE ACCESS TO A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE OVER AWIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK (WLAN)”, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices have been adapted to a wide variety of applications,including computing, communication, and entertainment. For example,mobile telephones permit users to freely initiate and receive voicecommunications. Similarly, mobile media devices have been developed topermit users to take electronic entertainment, including audio, video,and electronic games, to even the most remote location. Further, mobilecomputing devices have been developed to provide users with remoteaccess to data communications through wireless connectivity, such asover IEEE 802.11 or 3G networks. Some mobile devices, such as smartphones, support a combination of voice communications, entertainment,and mobile computing.

Systems have been developed which allow users of mobile devices toremotely control their mobile devices from a computer or other device.These systems allow access to various applications residing on themobile device so that the user can, for example, turn on and off variousfeatures and functions of the mobile device, navigate through menusavailable on the device, and so on.

SUMMARY

In one implementation, an arrangement is provided which allows a mobiledevice to be used to communicate with third parties when the user andthe mobile device are not in the vicinity of one another. For instance,if a user is located in one room of a residence and the mobile device islocated in another, the user will not be able to place or receive a callor text message using the mobile device. Among other things, thearrangement allows a PC or other client device to place and receivecalls and messages through a mobile device without using the mobiledevice's speaker and microphone. The client device and the mobile devicecommunicate with one another over a local area network such as a Wi-Finetwork, for example.

In one particular implementation, a user interface associated with aremote access application allows a user to determine how the mobiledevice is to respond when a call or message is received or sent. Forinstance, the user interface allow the user to specify the circumstancesunder which a call or message should be forwarded to one or more clientdevices. Such circumstances may include only forwarding calls ormessages which are received from predetermined parties who have beenspecified by the user. In this case the remote access application mayinteract with a contacts application residing on the mobilecommunication device so that, for instance, only calls or messagesreceived from someone included in the contacts application will beforwarded on to the client device.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary computing environment that includes a mobilecommunication device and client devices.

FIG. 2 shows one example of a mobile device.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative logical architecture of the majorfunctional components of a mobile communication device platform.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative set of functional components which maycomprise the remote access application.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing one example of a method for managing anincoming call or message that is received by a mobile communicationdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Currently, a mobile device can operate in a hands-free mode usingBluetooth or another short-range protocol in which the mobile device iswirelessly paired to an external speaker and microphone. In this way auser can communicate with third parties through the external speaker andmicrophone while the user is in the vicinity of the mobile device (e.g.,when the mobile device and user are both in a car or in the same room).In addition, some mobile devices can be remotely controlled from a PC orother device. Neither of these arrangements allows the mobile device tobe used to communicate with third parties when the user and the mobiledevice are not in the vicinity of one another. For instance, if a useris located in one room of a residence and the mobile device is locatedin another, the user will not be able to place or receive a call or textmessage using the mobile device.

As detailed below, an arrangement is provided which allows a PC or otherclient device to place and receive calls and messages through a mobiledevice without using the mobile device's speaker and microphone. Theclient device and the mobile device communicate with one another over alocal area network such as a Wi-Fi network, for example. The clientdevice is configured to serve as a controller and end point for all orsome of the phone specific operations of the mobile device. That is, theclient device is used to control specific features and functions of themobile device and is not being used to simply capture and replicate thedisplay of the mobile device. Examples of such functions that may beperformed on a PC or other client device include displaying andanswering incoming calls and receiving and sending text messages. Inthis case the mobile device is used to establish the phone callconnection, but audio, as well as control of the mobile device, isrouted to the PC over the local area network. In this way the mobiledevice can be used to communicate over a mobile network even when theuser is not in the immediate vicinity of the mobile device.

Among other advantages, this arrangement allows the user to operate themobile device with the generally more user-friendly interface of a PCand it also avoids the need to switch between devices when performing agiven task. Accordingly, the full keyboard of the PC can be used tocompose and send text messages such as SMS messages, a headset connectedto the PC can be used to answer calls, and files locally accessible tothe PC can be attached to a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message.Additionally, this arrangement allows the mobile device to be used whileits display screen is turned off, thereby conserving power and extendingthe battery life of the device.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary computing environment 200 that includes amobile device 210 and client devices 220 and 230. A wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) 250 connects the devices so that they can communicatewith one another. The WLAN 250 can operate in accordance with anysuitable protocol, including, but not limited to, the IEEE 802.11 familyof standards. The mobile device 210 can also communicate with thirdparties over a wide-area mobile network 240 such as a mobile phonenetwork or a mobile data network. Mobile network 240 may operate inaccordance with one or more communication protocols and technologiesincluding, but not limited to, global system for mobile communication(GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), user datagram protocol (UDP), transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), SMS, general packet radio service(GPRS), WAP, ultra wide band (UWB), IEEE 802.16 WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), SIP/RTP, or any of avariety of other wireless communication protocols.

Client devices 220 and 230 may be any devices that can communicate overWLAN 250. For example, client devices 220 and 230 may be, withoutlimitation, a PC, laptop, netbook, tablet, television, gaming device,landline or wireless telephone, smart phone, media device or a dedicatedappliance.

Mobile device 210 is a mobile communications device such as a wirelesstelephone that in some cases may also contain other functions, such asPDA and/or music player functions. To that end the device may supportany of a variety of applications, such as a telephone application, avideo conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instantmessaging application, a blogging application, a digital cameraapplication, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application. In some implementations the mobile device 210 maycorrespond to a mobile device of the type that will be described belowin connection with FIG. 2.

The mobile device 100 in FIG. 2 includes a memory unit 102 (which mayinclude one or more computer readable storage media), a memorycontroller 122, one or more processors (CPU's) 120, a peripheralsinterface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, amicrophone 113, display system 103, an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106,other input or control devices 116, and an external port 124. Thesecomponents may communicate over one or more communication buses orsignal lines 103. Along with the input or control devices 116, thespeaker 111, microphone 113 and display system 103 form a user interfacethrough which a user can enter and receive various types of informationand can communicate with other individuals over communication networksusing RF circuitry 108.

It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of amobile communications device 100 and that the device 100 may have moreor fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or amay have a different configuration or arrangement of components. Thevarious components shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented in hardware,software or a combination of both hardware and software, including oneor more signal processing and/or application specific integratedcircuits.

Memory unit 102 may include high-speed random access memory andnon-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices,flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices.Access to memory unit 102 by other components of the device 100, such asthe CPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlled by thememory controller 122. The peripherals interface 118 couples the inputand output peripherals of the device to the CPU 120 and memory unit 102.The one or more processors 120 run or execute various software programsand/or sets of instructions stored in memory unit 102 to perform variousfunctions for the device 100 and to process data. In some examples theperipherals interface 118, the CPU 120, and the memory controller 122may be implemented on a single chip, such as a chip 104. In otherexamples they may be implemented on separate chips.

The RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 includes one or more receiversand transmitters (e.g., a transceivers) for respectively receiving andsending RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals over both theWLAN 250 and the mobile communication network 240. The RF circuitry 108converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals andcommunicates with communications networks and other communicationsdevices via the electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 mayinclude well-known circuitry for performing these functions, includingbut not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or moreamplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signalprocessor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card,memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry 108 communicates with mobilecommunications networks and WLANs such as shown in FIG. 1.

The audio circuitry 110, the speaker 111, and the microphone 113 form apart of the user interface provide an audio interface between a user andthe device 100. The audio circuitry 110 receives audio data from theperipherals interface 118, converts the audio data to an electricalsignal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker 111. Thespeaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.The audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted bythe microphone 113 from audible signals (i.e., sound waves). The speaker111 and microphone 113 are two examples of audio transducers that may beemployed in the mobile communications device. The audio circuitry 110converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audiodata to the peripherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data may beretrieved from and/or transmitted to memory unit 102 and/or the RFcircuitry 108 by the peripherals interface 118. In some embodiments, theaudio circuitry 110 also includes a headset jack (not shown). Theheadset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry 110 andremovable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphonesor a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears)and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device100, such as the display screen 112 and other input/control devices 116,to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include adisplay controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for otherinput or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons(e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches,joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some examples inputcontroller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: akeyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse.

The display screen 112 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. The display controller 156receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the display screen 112.The display screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visualoutput may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combinationthereof (collectively termed “graphics”).

The display screen 112 will generally include a suitable display such asan OLED display, PLED display, active matrix liquid crystal display,passive matrix liquid crystal display, electrophoretic display,cholesteric liquid crystal display, polymer dispersed liquid crystal andnematic liquid crystal display. In some implementations the displayscreen 112 may be a touch-screen display.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. The power system 162 may include a portable power supply(e.g., battery) and components necessary to receive power from analternating current (AC) source, a power management system, a rechargingsystem, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverterand any other components associated with the generation, management anddistribution of power in portable devices.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory unit 102may include an operating system 126, a communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (orset of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (orset of instructions) 135, a sound module 133 (or set of instructions)and applications (or set of instructions) 136.

The operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X,Microsoft WINDOWS®, Android or an embedded operating system such asVxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers forcontrolling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management,storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitatescommunication between various hardware and software components. Thecommunication module 128 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 124 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by the RF circuitry 108 and/or theexternal port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.).

The graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on the display screen 112, includingcomponents for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. Asused herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can bedisplayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons(such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images,videos, animations and the like. The text input module 134, which may bea component of graphics module 132, provides soft keyboards for enteringtext in various applications (e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141,blogging 142, browser 147, and any other application that needs textinput).

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and providesthis information for use in various applications (e.g., applicationsthat provide location-based services such as weather widgets, localyellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

The applications 136 may include any combination of the followingillustrative modules: a contacts module, a telephone module; a videoconferencing module; an e-mail client module an instant messaging (IM)module; a blogging module; a camera module; an image management module;a video player module; a music player module; a browser module; a wordprocessing module; a voice recognition module; a calendar module; widgetmodules, which may include a weather widget, stocks widget, calculatorwidget, alarm clock widget, dictionary widget, and other widgetsobtained by the user, as well as user-created widgets.

In one implementation, applications 136 may include a remote accessapplication that allows a user of a client device who is not necessarilyin the vicinity of a mobile device to place and receive calls andmessages through the mobile device without using the mobile device'sspeaker and microphone. Other functions and features offered by thestatus application will be discussed below.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of instructions for performing one or more functions describedabove. These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not beimplemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory unit 102may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above.Furthermore, memory unit 102 may store additional modules and datastructures not described above. For instance, in the illustrativeenvironment of FIG. 1, client devices 220 or 230 may be used to placeand receive calls and messages on mobile device 210 using the WLAN 250to establish communication between the two devices. In one particularimplementation, this functionality is implemented on the mobile deviceside by an application such as the aforementioned remote accessapplication.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative logical architecture 200 of the majorfunctional components of a mobile device platform, which will be used toshow certain high level features of one particular implementation of aremote access application as described herein. In this exemplaryembodiment, the remote access application 205 executes on the mobiledevice 210 along with a voice call or telephony application 220 and anSMS application 250 and other applications as collectively indicated byreference number 225. The telephony application 220 supports telephonyservices to establish voice calls over a mobile network and may comprisewithout limitation a telephone application such as a cellular telephoneapplication, a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) application, apush-to-talk (PTT) application, and so forth.

The SMS application 250 supports the short message service, whichpermits the sending of short messages (also known as text messages)between mobile phones and other devices. Instead of, or in addition to,an SMS application, other messaging applications may be employed whichare arranged to communicate various types of messages in a variety offormats. The messaging applications may be representative of aparticular kind of transport, enabling handling of messages ofparticular types and formats for the particular application. It is to beunderstood that the embodiments are not limited in this regard and thatboth the telephony application and SMS application may include any othertype of communications or messaging applications which is consistentwith the described embodiments.

Supporting the applications 205, 220, and 225 in the architecture 200are an operating system 230 and a hardware layer 235. In this exemplaryembodiment, the operating system 230 is particularly adapted to operateon a resource-limited device and may comprise, for example, MicrosoftWindows® CE The hardware layer 235 provides an abstraction of thephysical hardware implemented on the device to the operating system 230and applications 205, 220, and 225 above it. For example, such physicalhardware may typically include a processor (e.g., a central processor or“CPU”), system memory such as read only memory (“ROM”) and randomaccessory memory (“RAM”), bus structures, peripheral systems, drives,display devices, user controls and interfaces, etc. The hardware mayalso include storage media for storing computer-executable instructions(i.e., code) including either or both removable media and non-removablemedia such as magnetic and optical media, solid-state memory, and otherconventional media. A user interface (UI) 240 is also provided by thearchitecture 200 to support user interactivity and facilitate aneffective user experience, and will typically be embodied as a graphicaluser interface.

The architecture 200 in FIG. 3 shows several illustrative interfacesthat are implemented among various functional components operating onthe mobile device. In this example the remote access application 205registers a call event listener 410 with the operating system 230through an API 415 in order to monitor and/or control call and messageactivity on the mobile device. The remote access application 205 willalso typically interact with the other messaging applications executingon the mobile phone by APIs that are respectively exposed by the otherapplications. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a representative API 420which is exposed by telephony application 220 enables the remote accessapplication 205 to invoke various functions, pass parameters, andexchange data with the telephony application 220. Likewise, arepresentative API 425 which is exposed by SMS application 250 enablesthe remote access application 205 to invoke various functions, passparameters, and exchange data with the SMS application 250.

For instance, in one particular implementation, when the call eventlistener 410 determines that a call or message is being received fromthird parties over the mobile communication network, the remote accessapplication 205 cooperates with the SMS application, telephonyapplication 220 or other application(s) as appropriate to forward thecall or message to the client device over a WLAN under predeterminedcircumstances so that communication between the client device and theremote party is established through the mobile network via the mobiledevice using the WLAN It should be noted that the architecture shown inFIG. 3 represents only one example of an architecture that may be usedto implement the functionality described herein and that many otherarchitectures may be employed instead. For instance, in oneimplementation, the functionality of the remote process application, inwhole or in part, may be directly embedded into the operating system230.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative set of functional components which maycomprise the remote access application 205. The components include auser interface layer 505, processing logic layer 510, and data layer515. It is particularly pointed out that the functional components shownin FIG. 4 are merely illustrative and that other components may also beused in various combinations depending on the needs of a given scenarioand to provide the features and functionalities described herein. Thefunctional components in the remote access application 205 are generallyconfigured to support a variety of features, functionalities, andinterfaces including supporting a user experience, interacting withother applications, applying logic and rules to implement the desiredbehavior of the application, and handling data. The functionalcomponents in the particular exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4 may beimplemented, at least in part, by computer-executable code which iswritten to one or more storage media that are disposed on the mobiledevice 200 and which execute via one or more processors that areincluded in the device's hardware.

The remote access application 205 supports a user experience byaccommodating user preferences when a call or message is received orsent. For instance, the user interface layer 505 may allow the user toestablish various user preferences. For instance, the user interfacelayer 505 may allow the user to specify the circumstances under which acall or message should be forwarded to one or more client devices. Suchcircumstances may include only forwarding calls or messages which arereceived from predetermined parties who have been specified by the user.In this case the remote access application may interact with a contactsapplication residing on the mobile communication device so that, forinstance, only calls or messages received from someone included in thecontacts application will be forwarded on to the client device.

User interface layer 205 may also establish user preferences thatinvolve the initiation of a call or message by the client device. Forinstance, user interface layer 205 may expose controls to the user onthe client device which are based on the inherent features andfunctionality of the mobile communication device. These controls may thesame or similar to the native user interface (including its graphicaluser interface and the like) available on the mobile communicationdevice itself. Alternatively, these controls may be modified orotherwise adapted for use on the client device. In this way variousfeatures such as a larger display or full keyboard which are availableto the user through the client device can be leveraged to provide anenhanced user experience over what is available through the native userinterface of the mobile communication device.

The remote access application 205 will generally apply processing logicand rules to implement the desired behavior as indicated by referencenumber 510. Application of the processing logic and rules will typicallyimplement a variety of routines, processes, and workflows in response tothe receipt of an incoming call or message from the third party or theclient device as monitored by the listener 410 to support the userexperiences described above.

Various data handling functions are also supported by the remote accessapplication 205 including receiving calls or messages and possiblyassociated information such as call or message metadata. For instance,if only calls or messages received under certain circumstances (e.g.,only calls or messages received from specified parties) are to beforwarded to the client device, the data layer 515 may include a datahandler for fetching metadata from an incoming call or message whichpertains to the identity of the third party. In this way the processinglogic layer may be instructed through the user experience layer 505 toonly forward calls or messages for which the metadata indicates that theprescribed circumstances have been satisfied, such as when a match isfound between metadata indicating the identity of the third party andthe identity of a third party who has been specified by a user of theclient device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing one example of a method for managing anincoming call or message that is received by a mobile communicationdevice. The method begins in step 610 when a call or message is receivedfrom a remote party over a mobile communications network. In step 610the mobile communication device determines if the call or message may beclassified as a type of message that is to be directed to the clientdevice over a WLAN. Calls or messages may be classified based onfeatures or characteristics of the call or message which are chosen bythe user. For example, a user may classify all calls or messagesreceived from a particular party and/or all calls or messages receivedat a particular time as calls or messages that should be forwarded. Callor message classifications are selected in advance by the user eitherdirectly through the user interface of the mobile communication deviceor remotely using a client device. A call or message is of apredetermined type

The user also specifies the client device or devices to which the callsor messages are to be directed. In some implementations differentclasses of messages may be directed to different client devices. Forinstance, by way of example, calls or messages received from familymembers of the user may be directed via the mobile device at any time ofthe night to a PC located in a den off the user's bedroom, whereas callsor messages received from friends may be directed during daytime hoursto a PC which the user uses at work and during evening hours to a PC orother client device located in the user's living room. Accordingly, inoptional step 620 the mobile communication device determines how theparticular type of call or message being received is to be handled basedon its classification, e.g., on the identity of the caller and/or thetime at which the call or message is received.

Once the mobile device determines where the call is to be directed, instep 630 the call or message is directed to the appropriate clientdevice(s) over a WLAN so that communication between the client deviceand the remote party is established over both the mobile network and theWLAN. That is, the mobile device does not simply transfer the call orthe message. Rather, it remains in the communication path between theremote party and the user.

The client device receives the call or message over the WLAN in step640. After the user takes the necessary action (e.g., answering the callor opening the message), the client device will render the communication(e.g., a call or message) in step 650 in an appropriate manner. Forinstance, if the communication involves audio, the audio will berendered by a speaker associated with the client device. If on the otherhand the communication involves text and/or images, the communicationwill be rendered on a display screen associated with the client device.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “engine,”“system,” “apparatus,” “interface,” or the like are generally intendedto refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination ofhardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example,a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both anapplication running on a controller and the controller can be acomponent. One or more components may reside within a process and/orthread of execution and a component may be localized on one computerand/or distributed between two or more computers.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. For instance, the claimed subject matter may beimplemented as a computer-readable storage medium embedded with acomputer executable program, which encompasses a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable storage device or storage media.For example, computer readable storage media can include but are notlimited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips . . . ), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD) . . . ), smart cards, and flash memory devices(e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ). Of course, those skilled in theart will recognize many modifications may be made to this configurationwithout departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subjectmatter.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing processor-executable instructions that cause a mobilecommunication device to forward a communication, the instructionsoperable to: execute a remote access application that receives andstores user-specified classifications regarding handling of differenttypes of communications including voice calls and messages, wherein theuser-specified classifications specify when a received voice call ormessage is to be forwarded to one or more client devices and how themobile communication device is to respond when the voice call or messageis received, upon receipt of a voice call or message communication froma remote party device, determine if the communication is of a typewithin the received and stored user-specified classifications, andforward the received communication over a wireless connectivity networkto the one or more client devices selected based on the user-specifiedclassifications received and stored into the remote access applicationfor the determined communication type, wherein the receivedcommunication is forwarded to the one or more client devices such thatthe mobile communication device remains in use in a communication pathbetween the remote party device and the one or more client devices. 2.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, whereinthe instructions to receive and store user-specified classifications areoperable to cause the remote access application to: interact with acontacts application residing on the mobile communication device forclassifying voice calls and messages from contacts included in thecontacts application as the stored user-specified classifications. 3.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2, whereinthe instructions to receive and store user-specified classifications areoperable to cause the remote access application to: classify the voicecalls and messages from the contacts received during predetermined timeperiods as the stored user-specified classifications.
 4. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein theinstructions to receive and store user-specified classifications areoperable to cause the remote access application to: expose controls tothe user on at least one of the one or more client devices wherein theexposed controls are based on inherent features of the mobilecommunication device.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to receive and storeuser-specified classifications are operable to cause the remote accessapplication to: expose controls to the user on at least one of the oneor more client devices wherein the exposed controls are modified for useon the at least one client device.
 6. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the instructions toexpose controls to the user modified for use on the at least one clientdevice cause the remote access application to: modify the controls foraccommodating a larger display of the at least one client device.
 7. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein theinstructions to expose controls to the user modified for use on the atleast one client device cause the remote access application to: modifythe controls for providing access to a full keyboard of the at least oneclient device to the user.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to determine if thecommunication is of a type within the stored user-specifiedclassifications are operable to cause the remote access application to:access metadata of the received communication that pertains to anidentity of a sender of the received communication.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein theinstructions to forward the received communication over a WLAN to one ormore client devices are operable to cause the remote access applicationto: forward the received communication to the one or more client devicesif the metadata of the received communication indicates that thereceived communication is of the type within the stored user-specifiedclassifications.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 1, wherein the instructions to forward the receivedcommunication over a WLAN to one or more client devices selected basedon the user-specified classifications are operable to cause the remoteaccess application to: select one of the one or more client devicesbased on the received and stored user-specified classifications; andforward the received communication to the selected client device.
 11. Amethod of enabling communications through a mobile communication devicecomprising: receiving a communication from a remote device; accessinguser-specified classifications regarding handling of different types ofcommunications including voice calls and messages received at the mobilecommunication device, wherein the user-specified classifications specifywhether a voice call or message is to be forwarded to one or more clientdevices; determining that the communication from the remote device is ofa type included within the stored user-specified classifications;forwarding the communication received from the remote device over awireless network to one of the one or more client devices selected basedon the user-specified classifications for the determined communicationtype, exposing controls on the selected client device that enable a userof the client device to respond to the communication using the selectedclient device; receiving, from the selected client device, a responsecomposed by the user to the communication, and transmitting the responsefrom the user to the remote device, wherein the mobile communicationdevice remains in use in a communication path between the remote deviceand the selected client device.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinreceiving a communication from a remote device further comprises:receiving a Short Message Service (SMS) message from the remote device.13. The method of claim 11, wherein exposing controls on the selectedclient device further comprises: exposing controls modified for a largerdisplay of the selected client device.
 14. The method of claim 12,wherein exposing controls on the selected client device furthercomprises: exposing a full keyboard on the selected client device. 15.The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving the user's inputfor the user-specified classifications from the selected client device.16. A mobile communication device comprising, a processor; and acomputer-readable storage medium storing processor-executableinstructions that cause the processor to forward a communication, theinstructions operable to: execute a remote access application thatreceives and stores user-specified classifications regarding handling ofdifferent types of communications including voice calls and messages,wherein the user-specified classifications specify when a received voicecall or message is to be forwarded to one or more client devices and howthe mobile communication device is to respond when the voice call ormessage is received; upon receipt of a voice call or messagecommunication from a remote party device, determine if the communicationis of a type within the stored user-specified classifications; andforward the received communication over a wireless connectivity networkto the one or more client devices selected based on the user-specifiedclassifications received and stored in the remote access application forthe determined communication type, wherein the received communication isforwarded to the one or more client devices such that the mobilecommunication device remains in use in a communication path between theremote party device and the one or more client devices.
 17. The mobilecommunication device of claim 16, wherein the processor-executableinstructions are further operable to: receive the user's input for theuser-specified classifications from one of the one or more clientdevices.
 18. The mobile communication device of claim 16, wherein theprocessor-executable instructions for implementing the user-specifiedclassifications regarding handling of different types of communicationsare further operable to: cause the remote access application to interactwith another messaging application residing on the mobile communicationdevice for classifying the voice calls and messages.
 19. The mobilecommunication device of claim 16, wherein the processor-executableinstructions to forward the received communication over a WLAN to theone or more client devices are further operable to: access metadataassociated with the received communication, the metadata pertains to anidentity of a sender of the received communication; and identify a matchbetween the metadata and an identity of a third party who has beenspecified in the user-specified classifications.
 20. The mobilecommunication device of claim 16, wherein the remote processingapplication is embedded into an operation system of the mobilecommunication device.